Ken
Ken is a main character in Ginga Densetsu Weed, a background character in Ginga Densetsu Weed: Orion and a minor character in Ginga: The Last Wars. He is the son of Ben and Cross and the first-born of his siblings George and Minnie. Appearance Though Ken is a Great Dane/Saluki mix, he looks entirely like a large, pure-bred Great Dane with a brown coat and darker-colored muzzle, resembling his father. He has black markings around his eyes and two scars on the left side of his face. His ears are cropped despite living his entire life as a wild dog with no human contact. He looks exactly like his father, the only difference is his two scars and that he's missing a collar. Personality Ken looks very similar to his father but is quite different in personality. He can be impulsive and short-tempered. Sometimes, he attacks aggressively without thinking. Still, he is usually well-mannered and tries to plan ahead and think about consequences. He can be slightly clumsy and dumb, but occasionally he speaks rather wise words. Ken remained loyal to the rulers of Ōu, which caused him to clash with his more rebellious friend, Kagetora. He had believed that it was Kagetora who attacked the humans, causing them to retaliate with firearms against the wild dogs. Ken was at first very strict about rules and following orders, but later started to realize that in emergency different actions are needed. Disliking the enmity between their friendship, Ken forgave Kagetora before the Kai does towards him, worrying about him during danger. Eventually, they put their quarrels aside and become friends again. Ken holds great value in family. As an older brother, he often tries to calm down his short-tempered younger brother. He was quite shocked and hurt when George nearly left the pack. However, he was hopeful, knowing that he would return. Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin 'Akakabuto Arc' Ken was the son of the platoon leader Ben and the female Ōu soldier, Cross, born sometime before the final battle with Akakabuto. He had two siblings, George and Minnie. They were first shown in the anime when Cross first introduced Ben to their pups, wanting both the father and her children to meet in case Ben dies during the battle. The couple had a tearful farewell as Ben left his family to join the battlefield, with the pups barking and running after him, oblivious to the fight ahead. 'Wolf Arc' Soon after Akakabuto's defeat, Cross and her liter were kidnapped by the wolf Retsuga and taken to the wolves' leader Reima. They were later released when his father came to rescue them. Ginga Densetsu Weed Ken is the son of Ben and Crossan an older brother to George and Minnie. Being the oldest, he was chosen to become an Ōu soldier at a young age. 'Monster Arc' When Ken first met Weed and GB in the manga, he had believed that they were from Kagetora's pack and attacked them. Ken had thought that Weed was a Kai dog because of his stripes, and couldn't believe GB, who told him who was Weed's father. Weed was then kidnapped by Kagetora after having seen Weed's prowess throwing down Ken. Ken is the leader of the punitive force and sees Kagetora as a rebel in endangering Ōu. He thought that it was Kagetora who provoked the humans into shooting down the wild dogs by biting a human. After discovering the true culprit of the human attacks and the ruin of Ōu paradise, the two make amends to their friendship and joined forces in helping Weed to take down the monstrous dog. After the defeat of Kaibutsu, Ken joins Weed in recruiting more dogs into their pack, accompanied by Kagetora. 'Hōgen Arc' During their journey, they come across a small pack of dogs harassing Cross and stop to help her, only for the fight to be interrupted by Ken's brother, George. Ken is happy to see his long-lost brother, who joins their journey. 'Monkey Arc' After Hōgen is defeated, Ken remains in Ōu while Weed goes to help his brother, Yukimura, to defeat the monkeys. 'Russian Arc' Shortly after, Ōu is invaded by a Russian army of dogs, and Ken is chosen as part of the group who will to escape and reconvene to make battle plans with Gin. Ken is trapped in the gorge with the rest of the unit and is forced to fight for his life, nearly giving up from his injuries when Musashi gives him the courage to continue fighting. Ken is badly injured and stays behind after the fight to receive medical care from Daisuke and Hidetoshi. Once his injuries heal and Viktor is killed, he travels with Weed once more. 'Hybrid Arc' Ken hears about the hybrid bears and assists Weed and the others in killing them. Whilst he is out, his father dies from old age, and Ken feels his spirit assisting him against a hybrid bear after a small friendly cub is killed. Ken howls to scare the bear away and gives the cub to Hiro to bury. Once the hybrid bears are killed, Ken and George go home to find that their father has died, the two brothers sharing a tearful moment crying over his grave, but rejoice when Weed and Jerome return safely. Ginga Densetsu Weed: Orion When the volcano erupts, Ken is caught in the smoke with the others and passes out. When he comes to, the Ōu dogs are in a shed in the mountains, saved by Kurohabaki Jinemon. They stay there until rescued by Daisuke and Hidetoshi. Ken follows the group back into the mountains to find Weed. They participate in the final battle against Kurohabaki Masamune's pack. Ginga: The Last Wars Ken goes with Weed to investigate the strange scent in the air and witnesses Monsoon attacking and fatally injuring Weed. Jerome helps Weed onto his back and Ken takes him to safety. Later on, Ken and the others attempt to defend Gin from Monsoon, effectively disobeying his orders. Ken gets slashed across the neck and chest by the giant bear. His injury is not fatal and he recovers enough to help fend off the remaining bears. As the fight progresses, Monsoon mistakes him for his father, Ben, but before he can attack he lunges towards Musashi instead, ultimately striking Kurotora and critically injuring him. Led by Monsoon, the bears carry out a full assault on the Ōu army. Ken and the remaining dogs are heavily injured. Monsoon roars in victory as the Ōu paradise falls. After the fight, Ken manages to escape with Rocket and Kyōshirō, sneaking across the cliff's face when they notice bears patrolling the grounds below. Rocket decides it is their best chance to counter attack while the bears don't notice them. The trio travel further downstream until they make it to a small cave, close to where Gajō once stood. Inside the cave are the rotten corpses of Dodo, Buru, and Shōji, having been there since their death at the hands of Genba years ago. Ken remains in the cave due to a fractured bone as Rocket and Kyōshirō leave to get help. A few days pass, and Ken is still too weak to move properly but refuses to die at the hands of the bears. Unfortunately, the cave is next to a river that is prone to strong floods and, in his condition, Ken couldn't escape as the rain brings strong flood waters that wash him into the river. Ken hangs onto a branch, but a large log washes down and hits him, knocking him into the depths of the raging water. Ken finds and holds onto a branch, thinking back to the time his sister drowned. The branch snaps and Ken falls into the water, bashing his head on a rock that knocks him out. As he loses consciousness, the spirits of Ben and Minnie appear to him, offering him strength as he refuses to give up. As he is knocked around in the water, Kawasemi and Orion, Bon, Yamabiko, and Andy arrive to save him. Ken is pulled from the river by the dogs and successfully revived by Akame. Ken is found by his mother Cross, Sunny, and Maru. Though he is happy to see his mother, he doesn't take to well to her coddling. He tries to apologize to the brothers that he wasn't able to protect their mother Lidiya or their other siblings, but Maru responds that it was their own fault that they couldn't protect her, and not Ken's. Cross offers to carry her son back to Paradise, which Ken refuses, stating that she was past her prime. Ken inquires on the condition of the others dogs, to which Cross quickly assures that everyone was fine, but she didn't know the extent of their injuries. Ken sees Gin, who assures that he's fine but expresses worry about him. Ken then mistakes Gin for Weed until Kurokama corrects him. The great dane asks Gin for Weed's whereabouts, and Ging only responds that Weed and Akame are doing fine and their only casualties were Hiro and Lydia. Ken was later carried back to the remaining soldiers while Gin informed them about what happened to the others and everyone gets together to sleep the night away. During the night he hears Gin waking up from a nightmare. He, along with the others, begin to notice that the Kamakiri brothers, Orion, and his friends haven't come back yet and noticed Rocket go after them. Then, after Orion's return, Ken hears Orion asks where the sickle is and watches everyone look for it. Due to the fracture in his leg, Ken wasn't able to help much and apologizes for his condition. Kurotora doesn't take it hard and when he hears Kyoshiro complaining he tells him to stop it because Orion will get angry. When trying to figure out who should be the next leader, Ken hears Kyoshiro and Kurotora choose his mother Cross. He sees everyone practicing below and when Ken hears Kyoshiro calling his mom names, he gently reminds Kyoshiro that he can do whatever he wants, but don't call his mother an old hag. Trivia * Although often treated like a youngster, Ken is actually only a little younger than Gin, thus making him one of the older dogs. Category:GNG Characters Category:GDW Characters Category:GDWO Characters Category:GTLW Characters Category:Males Category:Great Danes Category:Ohu Soldiers Category:Children of Ohu Soldiers Category:Dogs Category:Mixed Breeds Category:Scar Category:Brown Masked Great Danes Category:GDN Characters